The Canadian Olympic Committee has selected Sid Lee as its new creative agency of record, a partnership that will run through the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The COC previously worked with Cossette on its 2015 Pan Am Games and Rio 2016 Olympic Games marketing work, which included the “Now or Never” and “Ice in Our Veins” brand campaigns.

The change comes as the COC undertook a review of all brand and marketing activities heading into a new quadrennial planning cycle and is seeking a fresh perspective to continue its brand growth, the organization said in a press release, adding that it’s banking on Sid Lee’s experience with sports properties such as the Toronto Maple Leafs (recently on its 100th anniversary) and the “We The North” platform for the Toronto Raptors.

While it’s looking to build on its momentum from the past several years, the COC’s CMO Derek Kent says that “everything is on the table” in terms of how communications will look going forward.

Joseph Barbieri, partner and managing director of content at Sid Lee, says that the shop is starting from a very strong foundation and it’s now tasked with telling the COC brand story in a more dynamic way. “The key difference [moving forward] is we’re looking at this as a broad platform,” he says.

“We want to take a longer view to how the COC presents itself,” he adds, referring to work not just leading up to the Games but between events as well.

The COC will continue to work with its other agency partners, OMD on media, Zync on digital, and North Strategic on PR.

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